Name: Luisa Alexandra Leija
Title: MSLIS Candidate at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2022)
Primary Service Roles: I began working in libraries in 2017, after over a decade of serving the nonprofit, youth development sector. Working in libraries has allowed me to bring together my passions around community engagement, youth development, social justice, and cultural heritage preservation. As a graduate student of the UIUC online program (LEEP) I am following the Youth Librarianship pathway while examining the intersections of culturally relevant, arts-based library programming, emerging critical theories, and technology. In 2020-21 I was awarded an ALA Spectrum Scholarship and in 2019, the REFORMA National Rose Treviño Scholarship. Most recently, I was awarded the 2021-22 CLA Betty Begun Scholarship as well.
How does your work align with service to Latinos and Spanish-speaking communities?
I’ve been specializing in the service toward Latino/x/e and Spanish-speaking communities my entire career. As an undergrad I majored in Chicana/o Studies at UC Berkeley where I did my field work with The Mexican Museum in San Francisco in 2002. Since then, I’ve been acquiring and honing the skills to deliver bilingual/ bicultural programs that reflect our “Pedagogies of the Home” (Bernal, 2002). Building and affirming our cultural knowledge is central to my approach in creating library programming and services that our community want to access again and again.
An example of this work in libraries is the bilingual storytime program my co-worker, Sheridan Cazarez, and I co-created, Cuentos y Cantos. We addressed a gap in services toward the Latinx population by dreaming of a space where our Latino/x/e patrons could authentically be themselves and be celebrated. After much more collaboration, advocacy, and designing we had a bilingual program, that was the highest attended program systemwide in 2018-19.
Favorite aspect of your work:
Getting to work with the community and feeling that sense of familiarity we share with one another is unmatchable. Whether it be a baby, child, or grown up. A patron or a colleague- building community and having the opportunity to share palabra and wisdom energizes me. When I can build community with likeminded colleagues to amplify our individual endeavors, it’s an amazing gift. We can do so much more together than we can do alone.
Words of advice to other librarians and present and future MLIS students: Dream together, collaborate, and advocate together. Get out and tell the stories of your programs, of work you are doing, and of your JOY! We are often taught to be humble and of course, it’s not about bragging y calando mal. It’s about self-advocacy and educating those around us about the unique value of our causes or projects. If we don’t tell our stories, others have control over the narrative. Take control of the narrative.
Programs that I’ve done:
Apart from Cuentos y Cantos, I’ve also created Manos a la Obra- traditional arts of the Americas, Libros y Leyendas- a folktales and new books in Spanish program, Preschool Storytime, Flor y Canto Poetry Workshops, Storytelling, and Creative Writing programs.
Personal interests or hobbies I would like to share:
When I’m not working, you can find me having outdoor adventures with my family or spending time with my little ones (my son and little fluffy terrier). I do yoga most days. I enjoy music, art, poetry and hanging out with my homies.